Media

System requirements

Input

Game controller, keyboard

Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (ソニックアドベンチャー デラックス,Sonikkuadobenchā derakkusu?, lit. "Sonic Adventure Deluxe") is the enhanced port of the Dreamcast video game Sonic Adventure. It was released for the Nintendo GameCube on June 2003 and for the PC on 2003 in Japan and 2004 elsewhere. This version of Sonic Adventure contains several exclusive features alongside with several changes.

Missions

Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut features sixty missions spread across the six playable characters, where special tasks must be completed in the game's Adventure Fields and Action Stages.

Unlockable games

Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut features many unlockable games previously available on the Game Gear. If the start button of the second controller is pressed, the game screen will split, and two games will play at the same time. Additionally, Gear-to-Gear cable emulation is present, enabling the games that have two-player modes to be played if both players access the proper options within the game. These games were to be included in the Dreamcast version of Sonic Adventure, but were scrapped due to time constraints.[citation needed] A new Game Gear game is unlocked for every 20 Emblems the player gets, up until 100, then every 10 after that, or by completing 20 more of the 60 missions. This is the first time Sonic Drift and Tails' Skypatrol were released in the US and Europe.

Changes from the original versions

Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut includes some of the changes made to Sonic Adventure International, however it appears to mostly be based on the first US edition, showing many regressions upon International such as reverting fixed bugs and removing newly-added content. Changes include:

The main characters (with the exception of E-102 Gamma and Tikal) were redesigned with higher polygon counts and shading technology was also implemented for effects such as rippling water (shading effects were not present in the PC version, however). The textures were also redone from scratch, replacing the old cloth-like look with a more lustrous appearance.

The original 60 FPS framerate was restored. Unfortunately, due to hardware limitation, the game frequently skipped frames, usually in an uneven pattern (causing noticeable choppiness), even in places where few objects were displayed, and/or where the Dreamcast version did not slow down (however, some effects that caused slowdown before do not affect the framerate in the GameCube version). Cutscenes ran at a lower framerate, but this seemed to have been intended, for cinematic purposes.

Some sound effects, such as when collecting rings and emblems, were lower in pitch, while the losing rings sound effect was higher in pitch.

A Camera option was added to the pause menu, allowing the user to select either the original Auto Camera or the newly added Free Camera, which is usually closer to the character. In Auto Camera mode, the C-Stick can be used to get a first person view of the environment. In Free Camera mode, it rotates the camera around the player.

Changes (mostly minor) were made within the levels themselves in an effort to help solve some of the game's problems concerning collision detection. However, many glitches were not fixed, and some new ones were actually added. Some have to do with inconsistency in the port (for example, some windows still reflect the original Dreamcast graphics).

The Dreamcast's lighting system was completely replaced for the GameCube version; each stage is lit very differently compared to its Dreamcast counterpart, including the character lighting and stage fog.

The HUD was re-positioned slightly and made bigger in the GameCube version. However, this also made the HUD somewhat blurred.

The "Now Saving" icon that appears in the upper right corner of the screen doubles as a progress bar that gradually fills as the save/load progresses in the Dreamcast version. In the GameCube version, the text is located in the bottom-right or top-right corner of the screen, in a generic white font. It also does not double as a progress bar. The GameCube version also includes a "Now Loading" variant.

Transparency issues for the Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Big life box icons were fixed in the Gamecube version.

The names on the character select wheel are slightly transparent in the Dreamcast version, but are opaque in the Gamecube version.

The original game's textures have slightly lost some quality in this version, with many having more artifacts present than their equivalents in the Dreamcast version.

The aliasing problems that were present in the Dreamcast version have been fixed in the Gamecube version.

Gameplay difference

The Internet connection feature was removed. Very few of the downloadable content from the Dreamcast version, such as the Chao Garden's black market, additional voice packs and holiday-themed modifications, were included in the GameCube port. However, unlike the sequel, most of the online features were not incorporated into the GameCube game and remained exclusive.

Many changes to the Chao System were made, such as more interaction with the Chao, the ability to see their stats, as well as changes to the appearance of the Chao. The Chao Adventure VMU minigame was removed (instead replaced with a Game Boy Advance connection feature). The Chao System was overall very similar to the one in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle..

The ability to skip cutscenes by pushing Start was added.

A map, found on the pause menu while in Adventure Fields, was added. This is especially useful when navigating the Mystic Ruins jungle.

The train used to transport from Station Square to Mystic Ruins is now blue instead of red as in the Dreamcast version.

Some voice effects were changed like when Tails begins to fly or when Amy swings her hammer.

The characters' mouth movements match up with their lines in each respective language. However, this seems to cause more graphical glitches (such as Tails sliding along the ground in Super Sonic's story in English). In the Dreamcast version, the lip-syncing did not match either language.

Loading times are significantly shorter than in the Dreamcast version.

In the opening title sequence, Tails has his mouth open when he flies by the shattering windows. His mouth is closed in the Dreamcast version.

Knuckles' purple eyes are more prominent like in his official artwork.

In the GameCube version, the searchlights are visible from farther distances.

In the "Goin' Down" section, the Dreamcast version included two circles of Rings at the bottom of the section. Those were removed from Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, presumably because it is practically impossible to obtain any of them.

In the Dreamcast version, all background sounds stop after Sonic reaches the bottom. In Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, the sounds keep playing.

The potted plants received a minor visual upgrade for Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut and the lightening is slightly brighter.

In the Dreamcast version, the Egg Carrier has a prominent green tint. This is not present in the GameCube version since many of the green features (such as lights and glass) are replaced with blue ones.

The Exterior of the ship contains a number of changes:

The Monorail station has a scrolling icon of the Monorail on its lights in the Dreamcast version. This was removed in the GameCube version.

The color of the Monorail station's light on the exterior was changed from green to blue in the Gamecube version.

Fog was added to the exterior area in the GameCube version.

The Captain Room has parts of the chair inside of it that were removed in the GameCube version.

The Private Room has some minor texture differences; one of the textures on the wall in the entrance area is upside-down, three colors on the checkerboard texture on the rockets in the Study were changed from red to blue, and one of the textures on the ceiling of the Playroom was changed in the GameCube version.

Pool:

The lights on the wall around the pool area are more rounded in the GameCube version.

The textures on the walls in the pool area were changed slightly in the GameCube version.

The Main hall's Hint Boxes are no longer purple in the GameCube version.

Torture Chamber:

Parts of the Adventure Field version of the room were removed in the GameCube version.

The subgame version of the room has a number of incorrect textures in the GameCube version. This does not happen in the Dreamcast version of the subgame.

The Prison Room's lights above the cells were changed from green to blue in the Gamecube version.

E-102 Gamma's Arsenal and Water Tank rooms have noticably different lighting between the two versions.

The Warp Hall was given a number of texture changes in the Gamecube version.

The main area was heavily redesigned in the GameCube version to have a lighter appearance than in the Dreamcast version. Curiously, these changes were not applied to the other parts of the adventure field.

The waterfall is different between the two versions.

In the Mystic Ruins Angel Island:

The walls in this area are lined with trees in the original version. These were removed in the GameCube version.

The top of the walls surrounding the area were more jagged in the Gamecube version.

In the Mystic Ruins Jungle Area:

The paths can be seen through the canopy of the jungle in the Gamecube version.

The color of the water is different in the GameCube version from the Dreamcast version.

In the Dreamcast version, fog will appear while roaming the jungle itself. The fog was removed in the GameCube version.

In Eggman's base:

The glass tubes containing the robotic Sonics are made brighter in the GameCube version.

The lighting is changed, and both bosses are noticeably shinier in the GameCube version.

Fog was added in the GameCube version.

Chao Race

In this version, the Chao Race lobby is just a redesigned menu. Instead of an "Entry" button, this version has a walkway leading to some kind of monitor. The numbers on the walls were a bit more decorated and the arrows leading to each one were removed.

The menus themselves were redesigned further in this version.

The music for the Chao Race is different in this version. The Dreamcast version plays "Letz Get the Party Started"- the same track that plays in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle's Chao World lobby. The enhanced version plays a completely different, calmer track, which was also used on Sonic Adventure 2: Battle's Chao Race menu.

Reception

Reviews were generally less positive than those of its Dreamcast predecessor, scoring 57/100 from Metacritic based on 27 reviews[1] and 64.43% from GameRankings based on 49 reviews[2] for the GameCube version and the latter also scored the PC version 61.75% based on four reviews.[3]

The game's camera system, collision detection, framerate issues, dialogue and voice-acting of the game were the main points of criticism. IGN, who gave a 5/10, said that the game is "a very sloppy port of a game that has long been undeserving of its high praise".[4] GameSpot, who gave a 5.7/10, also noted those issues and summarized their review that "you're better off sticking with [the Dreamcast version] and not picking up the GameCube version of the game".[5]

Trivia

An advertisement for Sonic Adventure DX is a reference to the cover of the movie Speed.

The model used to represent the unlockable Metal Sonic in Trial Mode is not the same model featured in Eggman's lab, which is considerably larger than the player models. Instead, a new model based on Metal Sonic's appearance in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle was used. Unlike Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Metal Sonic is a reskin of Sonic, and therefore plays identical to him, including the susceptibility to drowning. Metal Sonic's only unique feature, besides the stock voice clips reused from Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, is the change from running to flying when his acceleration increases. At top speed however, he strangely reverts to running the same way as Sonic does.

The increased polycount is not applied to any characters beyond the main playable characters, Tikal and Eggman, causing a noticeably gap in quality between the player characters and field NPCs.

E-102 Gamma did not receive a new model or texture set, likely due to the fact his model and textures are shared with the E-series bosses.

In the Mission Mode of Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, the player occasionally has to collect gold Sonic medals. Interestingly, these are the same gold Sonic medals from Sonic R.

The final picture after each character's ending credits still uses their Dreamcast models, due to said pictures being the same images used in the original Dreamcast game.

Cream also makes cameo appearances in the same manner in the digital port of Sonic Adventure even without having the Sonic Adventure DX DLC installed.

In Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, when Amy is captured by Zero, she is using her old Dreamcast model.

Underneath the ground near the waterfall in Mystic Ruins, there is a row of fifteen blocks exclusive to this build of the game which cannot be seen normally in gameplay.

There is a hidden Ring hidden behind the City Hall in Station Square that is exclusive to this build of the game.

This port of Sonic Adventure has many leftover files from the original Dreamcast version, including the title screen and the TV settings, Twinkle Circuit's additional courses and the Christmas tree from the Dreamcast's DLCs.